Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
Sept 4, 2008 issue
Mountain Living
Essential, Universal Corn
A column by Amy Cooke
The first corn on the cob is such a special meal at our house. We make a big deal out of it and I don’t need anything else for dinner that night, just corn. Think how it must have been to go without fresh food most of the year, and then to have the crops planted on newly cleared land yield big, beautiful ears of sweet goodness.
“Corn was the essential, universal crop for the settlers…” explains Robert Morgan in Daniel Boone, A Biography. “It could be eaten as roasting ears in the milk, when first ripe, or it could be gritted on a grater into bread when a little more mature. When hardened in the fall, corn could be ground into grits or meal and made into mush, pudding or bread.”
Morgan adds that corn was used as horse and cattle feed and as mattress stuffing. The cobs were used as fire-starters and pipes and for a purpose later served by toilet paper.
Today, as in the past, artists here still make expressive dolls out of the husks, and Morgan saves the most famous use for last. “Of course the favorite use for corn for many was to dampen the grains and let them sprout.” After several steps, “the alcohol boiled off as steam and could be caught in a still and cooled as drops of whiskey. Boiled again, the whisky was refined into doublings, or potent moonshine.”
Early settlers used all of the corn plant including the silks. Reserve the silks next time you fix fresh corn to make corn silk tea. Use just the light silks and make sure they are free of bugs and worms. Pour boiling water over the silks to cover and let steep for about 15 minutes. The tea turns sunny yellow and tastes like fresh corn. Traditional folk medicine practitioners used this tea as a summer tonic, and it is very popular in Asia today.
Fresh “green corn” or “roasting ears” were only available for a few weeks in summer, so some settlers dried the corn at this stage for special meals in fall and winter. Celebrate Daniel Boone Days by parching some of this year’s fresh corn.
Creamed parched corn was often served for a harvest feast, so add this to your Thanksgiving menu this year. You can also enjoy parched corn as a snack without any additional cooking.
Parched Corn
Get your whole family involved so you will have help cutting all of that corn off the cob and so they can be part of harvest history. You can use any variety of fresh corn or even try this with frozen kernels. Enjoy the process and the wonderful toasty corny aroma that will fill your home.
12 cups fresh corn
1/4 cup cream (optional)
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon fine salt (optional)
Cut corn off of the cob until you have about 12 cups. If desired, toss the cut fresh corn with the cream and then sugar and salt until these additions are well distributed through the corn.
Place the corn on a large rimmed baking sheet, using a nonstick ovenproof mat, if desired. Place in the middle of the oven and turn the oven on to about 170 degrees. Bake for several hours until all of the corn is golden and just beginning to turn brown. You want each kernel to be dry all the way to the center.
Stir the corn every hour or so, making sure to bring the browner kernels from the edges into the center. You can turn off the oven and leave the corn to continue parching when you leave the house or go to bed.
It is difficult to know how long it will take your corn to parch. The time varies depending on the age of your corn, the variety, the amount of rain it got in its last days before harvest and other factors.
Let the finished corn cool completely, and then store it in an airtight container. The 12 cups will shrink to approximately 3 cups of parched corn. If you have room in the freezer, that gives you extra insurance that your corn will last a long, long time.
Thanksgiving Parched Corn
This traditional Thanksgiving dish has a wonderful special creaminess whether you add the additional cream or not. If you don’t get around to parching your own, you can buy dried corn this year to see if you want to add this dish to your holiday traditions. If you are feeding a crowd, you can multiply the amounts but be very careful about using low heat and stirring frequently.
1 cup dried parched corn
Water
Cream (optional)
Butter (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Hot red pepper flakes (optional)
Put the corn in a large saucepan and add water to cover. Add a pinch of salt if your corn is unsalted. Bring just to the boil, lower the heat and simmer very slowly until the corn is almost tender.
The kernels will expand to about four times their original size, so make sure you use a large pan. Stir occasionally, especially near the end. Corn contains a lot of sugar and starch, and if you don’t use low heat and stir frequently there will be a lot of sticking.
When the corn is almost tender and the water is almost all evaporated and absorbed, add the optional cream, if desired. Simmer a little longer so the kernels can incorporate the cream, and then add a nice pat of butter, plenty of black pepper and some hot red pepper flakes, if desired. Taste and add a little salt if needed.
Serve hot and enjoy a taste from the past.
To make a comment, ask a question or find out more about sources, contact Amy at amycookehcp@bellsouth.net.